2008 Election
Nobody likes a good party better than I do.
But I intend to accept the invitation I received to attend events related to the presidential inauguration.
I understand the historical significance of this inauguration. And I think as historical events go in the U.S., inaugurations probably sit near the top of the list. The thing is that I cannot afford to attend.
Every time I read or hear someone talk about the great leaps forward made in race relations, I scratch my head.
It doesn’t take long for me to get a reminder that most folks still instinctively judge others by the color of their skin or the sound of their voice.
What makes this most frustrating is that many times the people displaying the ignorance and insensitivity have been cast as intelligent, upstanding, decent people, and they often achieve high levels of authority.
The political deck of cards can shuffle pretty quickly in America, and no one knows that better right now than President-elect Barack Obama.
He better enjoy his deli-bought corned beef sandwiches while he can. Despite the Republican leadership’s vow to cooperate in these troubled times, methinks nothing would make the GOP rank-and-file happier than for the Democrats and their standard-bearer to have to eat some crow.
The votes are counted and the Barack Obama is president-elect. What are your thoughts about the historic 2008 election? Start a dialogue here about the changes that Americans, and the world, now face.
I watched the election results intently last night, like most Americans. As the evening progressed, my thoughts about the outcome darted quickly and almost randomly to my life in America the past 50 years and election nights.
Last night seemed different.
Yes, I listened to reports on exit polls, watched the map of the U.S. change colors, heard pundits offer “insight” into the numbers and trends, and jumped between stations when some political “insider” irritated me.
According to first-hand reports, balloting was running smoothly Tuesday in Williamsburg, Virginia, a town that has been going to the polls since about 1632.
Election officials carefully monitored the contests for president, senator, and representative to be sure there were no irregularities, and that all was fair and above board.
It wasn’t ever thus. During the past 370 years, voting has one or two times, perhaps, been, shall we say, below board.
I landed in the first batch of voters turned loose on the ballot box following the lowering of the voting age to 18.
Amendment 26, ratified in 1971, got me my first vote at age 20.
I recall spirited debates in high school classes in the 1970s about the proposed change from age 21 to 18. I recall a lot of classmates talking excitedly about getting the right to vote. They believed and I believed that a single vote could make a difference in a national election, even though mathematicians tell us otherwise.
The start of the presidential conventions means the race to the November election is heading into the final turn. Are voters more interested or less apathetic than in past contests for the White House? Why? How big a factor will the youth vote be in this election? Do rising gas prices, the falling dollar, and the stagnant economy make a difference in who you support for president? Will the war in Iraq help you decide who gets your vote this year? How big an issue is health care to you in this election? Is the two-party system still effective?
I have worked as a journalist and journalism educator for 28 years. I still report and edit, and consume all kinds of news each day — TV, newspapers, magazines, the Web and in whatever form it gets delivered.
I have been a news consumer since childhood. I grew up in a family and with parents who believed that people need to know what’s going on in the world — the world defined very loosely: our neighborhoods, our cities, our states, the U.S. and all other places.
